Future Forwards

By Nick Raynor
March 23 2005

Nick gives the information and his opinion on our options as far as strikers are concerned for next season.

Current Situation

 

We currently have 5 strikers contracted to the club:

 

Shearer

Kluivert

Ameobi

Chopra

Bellamy

 

I know Dyer and Milner CAN play upfront if needs must but I doubt anybody wants to see them playing there for a whole year. We need some quality strikers in.

 

Shearer is set to retire. If we win some silverware which now looks a likely possibility AND he breaks Milburn’s record, again, a very likely possibility, I think he’s going to hang up his boots. Also, Michael Chopra is not getting any younger and has reached the age where we cannot hold onto him and hope for his potential. It doesn’t look like he’s going to make it with us and his contract is due to expire this summer, with no new deal in sight as of yet.

 

Bellamy has had his well publicised problems with Graham Souness and as Souey looks to be staying in the Newcastle job, I can’t see Bellamy every pulling on a Magpie top again.

 

That leaves us with 2 forwards: Kluivert and Ameobi – Now obviously we can’t just have 2 forwards, and these 2 together are unlikely to help us reach our goal of 4^th place.

 

Ameobi is OK as a squad player and I’d like to hang onto him but Kluivert is hit-and-miss. His wages are massive and he is NOT putting the performances every match that he should. True, some games he is awesome but a lot of the time he just looks disjointed. I am undecided what to do over Paddy at the moment. I think he’ll be given another chance next season and if things don’t improve, he’ll be leaving in January.

 

Potential Signings

 

Yakubu

Saviola

Pandiani

Smith

Johnson

Forsell

Crouch

Vassell

Gudjohnsen

Owen

Ellington

 

11 suggestions there. 11 that have been mentioned over the last few days. Some not good enough, some too hard to get, some perfect.

 

1. Not Good Enough

 

Ellington – Yes, he does very well for Wigan, but when we are looking for Champions League football I don’t see Ellington as being the man to get us there. Wigan are likely to be getting promoted anyway so he would cost a fair bit and may not want to leave as he’d be getting Premiership football anyway. He’d be too much for what he is so we couldn’t have him as a squad player.

 

Vassell – A swap for Bellamy has been suggested. This may actually work as Vassell hasn’t been on form as of late. He hasn’t got that clinical finish that we need though. We’d be able to afford him, but what this player needs is first-team football to get him back on track and I don’t think we can offer that to him. He isn’t the man to replace Shearer.

 

2. Too Hard to Get

 

Owen – There has been a lot of speculation as to whether Owen will leave Real Madrid. If he does then I think we have a shot but it will cost us a fair bit, probably £10 million - £15 million. He has also started scoring in Spain and playing more often. Ronaldo is having trouble over there and I can see Owen staying in Spain for the duration.

 

Saviola – I doubt we could attract Saviola. He’d cost a bomb and hasn’t been all that great this season anyway. The type of person we would want for CL football is not somebody who doesn’t tear the French League apart. Not worth it. I think Saviola will be back at Barcelona next season

 

 

3. For the Bench?

 

Crouch – Now I wasn’t sure whether to put him in the ‘Not Good Enough’ section or not. I do not think he could start every game but we do need some squad players and, despite a lot of people not agreeing with me, Crouch could be interesting. He has done OK at Southampton and of they go down, could be available on the cheap. He is very good in the air, something we will lack when Shearer leaves.

 

4. Possible Signings

 

That actually leaves 6 players who I think we could sign and they would do well:

 

Yakubu

Pandiani

Smith

Johnson

Forsell

Gudjohnsen

 

Yakubu – It seems like marmite with Yakubu. You either love him or you hate him. Sometimes he is awesome, banging loads of goals in but then he just loses form. He’s too inconsistent for me. He is a good penalty taker though which would be good to replace Shearer. I wouldn’t mind if we signed him and I may well be wrong about his performances but I wouldn’t go for him.

 

Pandiani – Well I think we could attract him if he’s willing to go to Birmingham. I actually think Birmingham will try and sign him and if he settles well then he may not wish to leave. I’d prefer to go for someone a bit more high profile but if it was Pandiani’s name on the back of a Newcastle shirt next season, I wouldn’t complain.

 

Smith – This is where it gets interesting. I think Smith has done awesome at Manchester United this season. He keeps being thrown on as a substitute and does well every time. Man United have had a cut in sales, and after buying Wayne Rooney they have no money left to buy players. Fergie may be looking to sell and Smith may be looking for first-team football. We can attract him as we nearly did when he was still at Leeds. I think we’d be looking at somewhere around £10 million and I think it would be worth the price.

 

Johnson – Another one I’m very keen on. I keep praying and praying Palace get relegated because this guy is going to leave if they do. Now a few clubs are going to be going for him but I think we could easily be one of those. We all know that Andy Johnson has done fantastic at Palace this season and he is a replacement penalty taker too. I think we’d be looking in the region of £5 million - £8 million if Palace went down as they would need the money and Johnson wouldn’t want to stay. Only problem is, many clubs would be interested.

 

Forsell – Been injured all season but last year did great for Birmingham. It may be difficult to sign him from Chelsea as I know he wants to stay and fight for his place but Chelsea are supposed to be signing another forward this year and I can’t see Forsell playing. He may go back to Birmingham as he liked it there but they may go for Pandiani instead. I’d like Forsell but I’m not sure on his availability.

 

Gudjohnsen – He is also a very real possibility. May be looking to move on if Chelsea get more forwards in and we won’t have to be negotiating a price as Chelsea are rolling in it we should get him cheaper. Look how much we got Babayaro for! He’s a quality player but despite the reduced price, I still think we’d have to pay a fair bit for him and he may stay at Chelsea as he’d get a fair few games still.

 

Summary

 

   = Yes

   = Maybe/Possibly

   = No

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So I think we should sign:

 

Crouch (simply for depth)

Smith

Johnson

 

Which leaves are pecking order looking like this:

 

Newcastle United Strikers Pecking Order 2005/2006

 

Smith

Johnson

Kluivert

Ameobi

Crouch

 

IF we can't get Smith or Johnson, I would go for Yakubu or Forsell. I think Smith and Johnson would be cheaper and I believe in the abilities of both men. Forsell would cost a bit and I think we'd struggle to get him to the club and I don't rate Yakubu as a player as highly as some people. Smith and Johnson would be ideal for me. Crouch just for some depth.

 

But things are never that simple…